World-class sport in England

The UK has welcomed the world to some of the biggest and most successful events of recent times.

The2002 Commonwealth Games, held in Manchester, are widely considered to have set new standards in both athletic excellence and organisational expertise.

More than 3,600 athletes from 72 countries competed in front of 900,000 spectators at the purpose-built 38,000-seat stadium. Nearly 10 million Britons tuned in to watch coverage of the closing ceremony alone.

In March 2003, Birmingham hosted what was acclaimed as one of the finest IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships. A total of 618 athletes from 145 countries competed in front of a sell-out, passionate crowd of 20,000 and were watched by a global television audience of 168 million viewers in 141 countries.

IAAF General Secretary Istvan Gyulai said: "I have seen all the world championships, indoor and outdoors, and we have never experienced more support from the host city. This was an event for the whole community and this is a key ingredient for success."

In the past decade the UK has also welcomed everything from the World Badminton Championships to the World Finn Sailing Championships. In addition, football's Euro 96 and both the cricket and rugby World Cups have been successfully staged, using Wembley, Lord's Cricket Ground and the Millennium Stadium.

And the list of world-famous annual or regular events, and venues, is almost endless: Badminton, the Belfry and Henley, to name but a few; Aintree, Ascot, Silverstone and Wimbledon.

Highlights to come include the World Junior Sailing Championships, at Weymouth and Portland, and the World Rowing Championships, at Eton Dorney, both in 2006. Both will be venues in 2012.

英格兰曾举行过一些世界级的大型运动盛会，并获得了巨大成功。

2002年在曼彻斯特举行的英联邦运动会，被公认为在竞技水平和组织工作方面提升到了一个新的高度。

来自72个国家的3600多名运动员参与了比赛，超过九十万的观众在特别为运动会修建的可容纳38000人的场馆中观看了比赛。近千万英国公众通过电视观看了运动会的闭幕式。

2003年3月，伯明翰主办了另一重要赛事 - 国际田联室内田径锦标赛，比赛非常受欢迎，几乎一票难求。来自145个国家的六百多名运动员同场竞技，二万多名热情的现场观众和全球1.68亿电视观众都为他们加油呐喊。

国际田联的秘书长Istvan Gyulai表示：“我曾经观看过许多国际锦标赛，室内或室外的，伯明翰举行的室内锦标赛得到了主办城市的极大支持，每个伯明翰人都积极为锦标赛做贡献，这是此次活动取得成功的重要原因之一。”

在过去的十年中，英格兰还曾举行过一些世界级的运动会，从世界羽毛球锦标赛到男子帆船芬兰人级锦标赛。96年的欧洲杯、板球世界杯和橄榄球世界杯也在温布利（Wembley ）和罗德板球场（Lord's Cricket Ground）和千年体育馆（Millennium Stadium）成功举行。

英国可以列出的世界级大赛和世界级场馆的名单很长，我们可以说出很多：羽毛球馆，贝尔弗里高尔夫俱乐部(The Belfry) Belfry，Henley一流的体育场馆，其他更有名的包括Aintree, Ascot, Silverstone和 Wimbledon。

2006年登场的世界级热点比赛有：世界初级航海锦标赛（于Weymouth 和 Portland举行），世界划艇锦标赛 （于Eton Dorney 举行）。这两地都将成为2012年伦敦奥运会的赛场。